


the other side of the coin

by thespiritofregret



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Dark Sides Family, Families of Choice, Gen, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, deceit adopts the dark sides, virgil and remus chaotic adoptive siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-07 23:16:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21225860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thespiritofregret/pseuds/thespiritofregret
Summary: A story about building a family as told by the personification of selfishness, or how Deceit accidentally adopted two children.





	the other side of the coin

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like this has probably already been done several times but I wanted to do it anyway because I really love writing familial relationships okay.
> 
> Warning for Remus and his usual behaviour.

The room was dark when he woke up, but as soon as he wished to be able to see better the lights flickered on. He looked around. He barely knew _what_ he was, let alone who or where or why, but the lack of information somehow didn’t bother him. He felt warm and comfortable and real.

_I am Thomas_, he thought, and then, _I am part of Thomas_, and then, _I am the part of Thomas that deals with dishonesty_. He hadn’t known this a moment before. It simply popped into his head as soon as he tried to remember the answers, slotted in as complete and universal truth. He didn’t question it. Instead, he followed the train of thought onwards.

_I am deceit. I am Deceit._

Having found something to call himself, Deceit got up and made his way out of the room – _his_ room. The hallways were dimly lit, but they got brighter the further he went, until he found himself in the doorway of what looked a little like a conservatory. It wasn’t actually a conservatory, but then again, Deceit wasn’t actually a person. This was another thing that he simply knew. He was part of a person, but by himself he was just a Side, however much of a person he might feel. Deceit wondered absently if it felt any different to be a whole person.

_Where am I?_ he asked himself. _The mind palace_, his thoughts supplied. A palace? Then who was the king?

That question was answered by the three other people sitting in a circle in the middle of the conservatory, none of whom had seen Deceit. One of them was wearing a very conspicuous crown. Deceit was later to learn that this was Creativity, and if a palace of imagination could have a ruler, than he was it. He didn’t act all that much like a king. He acted like an excitable seven-year-old, which in fairness to him was what he was.

‘Why’d Thomas lie?’ one of the three was asking. ‘Which of you did that?’

‘We had to, didn’t we?’ said Creativity, cocking his head to one side with very little regard for the crown perched on it. ‘Otherwise Thomas would’ve gotten in trouble.’

‘But he should have gotten in trouble!’ exclaimed the first speaker. ‘He stole a cookie, and that’s bad!’ Creativity pouted.

‘I just really wanted a cookie, Morality! What’s wrong with having cookies?’

‘What’s wrong is that Mummy told him he we couldn’t have another one!’ said Morality. ‘And then he took one anyway, which I _said_ he shouldn’t have done, and then he lied about it!’

‘I am afraid,’ said the third person, who had previously just been watching Morality and Creativity argue, ‘that Morality is right. Thomas’ mother is an adult, so she knows more things than he does, and as a result he ought to listen to her and make sure she has all the information to make the right decision.’

‘Why can’t _you_ just make the decisions instead, Logic?’ said Creativity, rolling his eyes. ‘Then she doesn’t have to.’

‘I _am_ making a decision,’ said Logic, folding his arms, ‘and my decision is that Thomas should let Mummy make decisions. That is the sensible option. And Thomas should not lie to her, because in order to make decisions she needs to know the truth.’

‘Yeah!’ exclaimed Morality. ‘Thomas shouldn’t lie. Lying is wrong!’

Creativity sighed and nodded, and Deceit, standing in the doorway, decided that these three might not be particularly happy to meet him, so he left without a word.

In the end, when Deceit did introduce himself to Thomas’ other three major traits, it was purely because he couldn’t resist the opportunity for a dramatic entrance. It would always have happened eventually anyway, so he reasoned he might as well do a good job of it.

‘But Thomas is an honest person!’ Morality had just said, and it would have sounded convincing if Deceit hadn’t heard it and walked right in.

‘Oh yes,’ he said sarcastically. ‘Honest. Trustworthy. Completely free of deceit in any shape or form.’ The other three stared at him in a mixture of shock and confusion.

‘Who are you?’ asked Logic eventually, squinting through his glasses. Deceit grinned at him.

‘Certainly _not_ the personification of deceit,’ he said, ‘because as we’ve established, Thomas _doesn’t_ have one of those.’

‘Deceit?’ asked Creativity curiously. ‘We have a Side for lying?’ Deceit shrugged.

‘But we can’t!’ exclaimed Morality. ‘Lying is wrong! We’ve been over this!’ He narrowed his eyes at Deceit. ‘We don’t need a lying Side!’

Morality held a lot of sway in the mind palace. Both Logic and Creativity nodded in agreement. Deceit had expected as much, and had prepared for it. They couldn’t get rid of him, and he didn’t need them to like him anyway. He could just do his best to guide Thomas from the shadows, the way he’d been doing already. Perhaps when they were all older the others would realise that Deceit’s way was the quickest and easiest way to get them where they wanted to go, but until then, he could wait.

‘How _polite_ of you,’ he said. He knew he _could_ tell the truth, but he’d found it was much harder than speaking in sarcasm and riddles and lies. This particular conversation didn’t seem worth the effort. ‘I suppose, then, that I’ll just _disappear_. Not as if I’m a natural part of Thomas or anything.’ He smiled, more a baring of teeth than anything. ‘I certainly _won’t_ see you around.’

Something was clearly wrong out in the front of the mind palace. Deceit usually kept to the back, because the other three didn’t like him and he didn’t have the energy to argue with them all the time, but he had always been naturally curious (or, as some might put it, a snoop). So when he heard the general commotion, he crept out to sit by the conservatory door and eavesdrop.

Morality sounded distressed. Logic sounded distressed, though Logic usually put up a good front of pretending to have no emotions at all. Creativity sounded… well, also distressed, but there was something very off there. Namely the fact that there were definitely two voices where there should have been one.

‘But _I’m_ Creativity!’ snapped the first voice. ‘You can’t be Creativity as well!’

‘I was Creativity _first_!’ insisted the second voice.

‘Were not!’

‘Was too!’

‘Were not!’

‘Was too!’

Unable to help himself, Deceit peered around the doorframe. Two Creativities were standing in the middle of the conservatory, each gripping a side of Creativity’s crown and trying to wrestle it away from the other. Aside from the opposing colour schemes of their clothes, they were near-identical. Morality and Logic were watching with a sort of bemused horror.

‘I’m the _good_ Creativity!’ shouted the Creativity in red and white. ‘Your ideas are just weird and scary!’

‘Just ‘cause _you_ don’t like them doesn’t mean they aren’t good!’ the Creativity in green and black snapped back. ‘It’s shock value!’

‘Extreme violence is not shock value, it’s just disgusting and tacky! Anyway, Morality and Logic say I’m the good one, so _there_!’

‘And Morality and Logic know everything?’

‘They know a lot more than you, you _creep_!’

‘What are we going to do?’ muttered Logic to Morality, quietly enough that Deceit had to strain his ears to hear over the shouting. ‘They’ll never stop fighting if they both stay here.’ Morality didn’t reply, mostly because his hands were clamped so firmly over his ears that Deceit doubted he could hear at all. Deceit wondered what he was trying to block out, and it was then that he became aware of the sheer number of concepts just hanging in the air. Once he noticed, he couldn’t quite stop noticing. Red Creativity had a point, in that some of them really were quite disturbing, but then Deceit had always been of the opinion that a Side’s nature wasn’t really his own fault. Morality, though, what with his own nature, probably couldn’t cope with thoughts like that all that well.

Just then there was a loud cracking noise and the twin Creativities flew apart. When they got back to their feet Deceit could see that the crown had broken evenly down the middle, leaving each of them clutching half.

‘You broke the crown!’ shouted Green Creativity, jabbing a finger in his counterpart’s direction.

‘It’s not _my_ fault!’ Red Creativity shouted back. ‘_You_ broke the crown!’

‘_Quiet_!’ shouted Logic, loudly enough that both Creativities were left speechless for a moment. The manic swirl of thoughts in the air calmed a little. Morality cautiously removed his hands from his ears, wincing.

‘Are you alright?’ asked Logic. Morality nodded with a slight shiver.

‘We can’t…’ he started, then trailed off. ‘Why does Thomas think like that? That’s _awful_. He’s… he’s not a bad person, is he?’

‘Of course not,’ said Logic calmly.

‘What’s awful?’ snapped Green Creativity, and then, ‘I’m a Side, same as the rest of you! You can’t just decide I’m not a part of you!’

‘Thomas would never think things like that!’ Morality snapped back. ‘He’s a good person!’

‘I’m thinking them, and I’m Thomas!’

‘And you’re bad!’ interjected Red Creativity. ‘You shouldn’t exist! We’ll figure out how to get rid of you!’ Green Creativity crossed his arms, glaring.

‘I’ve always existed! We used to be the same person!’

‘And we split because you were bad!’ Red Creativity retorted. ‘You’re hurting Morality, so you can’t stay!’ Logic opened his mouth, glancing between the two of them with concern, but before he could say anything Green Creativity drowned him out.

‘Fine!’ Green Creativity shouted, backing towards the doors. ‘I don’t need you anyway!’ And with that, he spun around and sprinted out of the conservatory, not even noticing Deceit tucked behind the doors.

‘That was a bit harsh,’ said Logic to Red Creativity, who just scowled.

‘What do we do now?’ asked Morality. ‘Do we go looking for him?’ He looked very conflicted. Deceit supposed it was in his nature not to want to upset anyone, even if he felt that that someone was dangerous or damaging. Logic shrugged.

‘I doubt we’d find him. The back of the mind palace is difficult to navigate.’ Only if you didn’t bother to take the time to learn.

‘But…’ Morality grimaced. ‘We can’t just leave him all on his own, can we?’

‘He won’t be alone,’ said Logic. ‘Deceit lives back there, remember?’ So Green Creativity was his responsibility now? Deceit frowned. Logic and Morality didn’t have the right to just palm anything they didn’t want off on him, but if they weren’t going to take proper care of the new Side then someone would have to. He supposed he could use an ally.

‘Deceit’s quite… selfish, though,’ said Morality. Deceit decided to take that as a compliment. ‘He probably wouldn’t bother actually helping him.’

Deceit did _not_ take that as a compliment. He was selfish, true, but the self he was protecting was Thomas, even if the others didn’t think much of his methods, and every Side was a part of Thomas. Thomas needed every part of himself to function properly, so it fell to Deceit to protect those parts and ensure they all kept working the way they should. If the others ever bothered to _ask_ him for help, he’d gladly give it. As it was, he just kept an eye on all of them from the shadows. The implication that he might just abandon a Side to whatever fate might befall them did not sit well with him.

Right then and there, he decided he was going to take very good care of Green Creativity, because from now on his second purpose was going to be to prove Morality wrong.

At that precise moment, Deceit’s new resolution manifested in him uncurling from his seat beside the door and heading out to find Green Creativity. The other Side hadn’t gone far. Logic had been right in saying that the back halls of the mind palace were confusing to those not used to them. Green Creativity looked very lost.

‘Hello,’ said Deceit. Green Creativity whipped around to stare at him.

‘Who are you?’ he asked. ‘What do you want?’

‘I’m Deceit,’ said Deceit, wincing slightly at the burn of the truth in his throat. ‘You must be Creativity.’ Green Creativity stared for a moment more, then nodded.

‘I live back here,’ Deceit continued, gesturing vaguely at their surroundings. ‘I hear the others don’t particularly like you?’

‘No,’ said Green Creativity uncertainly. Deceit beamed at him.

‘Me neither. I’m afraid Morality can be very black and white, so they aren’t always all that accepting up there. I doubt they’ll revise their opinions any time soon.’

‘Then what do I do?’ asked Green Creativity. He seemed unhappy with the idea of not being liked by anyone. Creativity had always been sociable. Deceit supposed there was no reason to expect either half of him to be any different.

‘You come stay with me, of course,’ he said.

‘With you?’ Green Creativity sounded dubious.

‘Yes!’ Deceit grinned. ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as they say. Though in my opinion none of us are really enemies, since we all want what’s best for Thomas. Anyway, we outcasts should stick together. We can make something of this, I’m sure.’

‘You’ll listen to me?’

‘I will,’ Deceit promised, and meant it, which was rare. He understood how frustrating it was not to be listened to. ‘We’ll see about getting Thomas to listen, too, though I expect you’ll have to be… loud.’

‘I can do that!’ Green Creativity clapped his hands together, suddenly becoming much more animated. ‘I’m very loud!’

‘Excellent,’ said Deceit, silently mourning the loss of the peace and quiet to which he’d become accustomed. ‘Now, what’s your name?’ Green Creativity gave him a rather odd look.

‘I’m Creativity,’ he said. ‘You know that.’

‘Well, yes,’ said Deceit, ‘but we’ve got two Creativities now, and we can’t very well call you both the same thing. The others were thinking about picking proper human names last I heard. So why don’t you pick a name?’ Green Creativity blinked at him, and then his mouth stretched into an alarmingly wide grin.

‘_Absolutely_!’ he said.

And off they went together down the hall.

‘Dee! Deedeedeedeedee!’

Deceit sighed and snapped his book shut. Remus was the type to need an awful lot of attention, and while Deceit did his best to look out for him, sometimes he needed his alone time.

‘What _isn’t_ going on?’ he asked, looking up at Remus, who was practically bouncing on the spot.

‘I found a new Side!’ exclaimed Remus, and _wow_, that was not what Deceit had been expecting at all.

‘Is that so?’ he asked. Remus nodded in a way that made Deceit worry his head might suddenly fly off. It had happened before.

‘There’s another room just down the hall from where ours are,’ Remus explained. ‘I went in to see what was in there and I saw him. I tried to introduce myself but I kind of blurted something out and I think I scared him so I figured you should go talk to him.’

Deceit nodded and hurried off down the hall. Sure enough, there _was_ a third door next to Remus’. A new Side hadn’t just formed like this since Deceit himself, and it was interesting that this Side’s room should automatically appear with them instead of with the other three Sides. Deceit raised his hand and knocked on the door. There was no response.

‘Hello?’ called Deceit softly through the door. ‘Is anyone there? I’m sorry if Remus upset you. He… doesn’t really have a brain-to-mouth filter.’ There was an odd rustling noise from behind the door.

‘Who are you?’ asked a quiet voice.

‘I’m Deceit,’ said Deceit. ‘I’m the part of Thomas involved with lies and self-preservation. Who might you be?’

‘Anxiety,’ said the voice eventually.

_Anxiety_. That was interesting. Of course, Anxiety wouldn’t be something the others would consider a positive trait. Perhaps now that there was such a notable split, the mind palace had simply started sorting new Sides itself. Anxiety was something of a self-preservation instinct, just like Deceit was. Perhaps he’d finally have some proper help around here. Remus did try, but his purpose wasn’t all that similar to Deceit’s, so generally they managed their own issues separately.

‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, Anxiety,’ Deceit replied. ‘Do you want to come out? You don’t have to, but it would be nice to meet you.’

‘Maybe,’ said Anxiety uncertainly. ‘Give me a minute?’

‘Of course,’ said Deceit. ‘We’ll be just down the hall.’

In the end, it was about half an hour before Anxiety came out of his room. Remus was not inclined to let Deceit go back to reading, so they ended up playing Monopoly on the floor of the living room. Deceit was sure that Monopoly didn’t usually have this complex a plotline or game pieces that bore such a striking resemblance to human eyeballs, but games with Remus were always like that. He’d gotten used to it.

‘Monopoly has _always_ been this dark,’ said Remus when Deceit mentioned it. ‘It’s about the evils of capitalism and the endless cycle of poverty as some players lose everything they own and then have to camp out in their car with no heating and get frostbite so all their limbs drop off –’

‘I wouldn’t have put it that way,’ said a nervous voice from somewhere behind them, ‘but you make a good point, I guess?’

Remus made a startled shrieking noise and probably would have hurled himself at Anxiety if Deceit hadn’t grabbed his arm to restrain him.

‘You came out of your room!’ exclaimed Remus, grinning slightly manically. He turned back to Deceit. ‘Look, Dee, he came out of his room!’

‘Clearly _not_, Remus,’ said Deceit, rolling his eyes. ‘_Don’t _calm down. Remember what I said earlier?’ _Don’t come on too strong. He’s not used to you yet._ Remus nodded and quietened down a little. Deceit turned back to Anxiety, who was standing awkwardly in the doorway, and beckoned for him to come in.

Anxiety was dressed all in black and grey. There were dark circles under his eyes that Deceit was about 70% sure were eyeshadow, but could have just been a natural feature of his face. He took a small step into the room, and then, when there were no apparent consequences, walked across until he was only standing a little way from Deceit. Remus waved at him.

‘Evening,’ said Deceit with a smile. ‘I’m certainly _not_ Deceit, and this _isn’t_ Remus, one of Thomas’ creative Sides, and we absolutely _aren’t_ pleased to meet you.’ Anxiety looked confused by this at first, but then seemed to figure it out.

‘You talk in lies?’ he asked. Deceit shrugged.

‘I _don’t_ lie most of the time. It _isn’t_ easier for me than telling the truth is.’ Anxiety nodded.

‘Do you want a name?’ chirped Remus. ‘I picked mine myself! You can have one too!’

‘A name?’ said Anxiety. ‘Like, a human name?’

‘We _didn’t_ think that having human names would make it easier to differentiate between us,’ Deceit explained. ‘Remus _didn’t_ get really excited about it.’

‘Okay,’ said Anxiety, and he sat down next to Deceit. ‘Um, I dunno. Do either of you have any ideas?’

‘Do _I_ have _ideas_?’ screeched Remus, and launched into a long monologue of names he thought sounded good, along with their etymology, notable people who had had that name and occasionally odd tangents about the meaninglessness of life. Anxiety listened with a look of faint bemusement.

_Welcome to the family, Anxiety,_ thought Deceit. _Looks like you’re here to stay._

‘Do you ever wonder what bleach tastes like?’

‘That’s _not_ edgy at all,’ commented Deceit. Virgil raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged. ‘Just saying, that _doesn’t_sound like something Remus would say.’

‘What would I say?’ asked Remus, poking his head around the doorframe. Deceit raised one hand in a lazy wave.

‘Have you ever drunk bleach?’ he asked. ‘V _doesn’t_ want to know what it tastes like.’ It was a testament to how used to them Virgil had gotten that he didn’t blink at the suggestion that Remus might have actually drunk bleach before. Then again, one of the first things anyone discovered about Remus was his tendency for eating things that ought not to be eaten. Deceit would have been more concerned about this habit if it was possible for it to actually harm him.

‘I have not,’ proclaimed Remus, a mad gleam in his eye, ‘but now I’m going to have to!’ Deceit rolled his eyes.

‘Cool,’ said Virgil flatly. ‘Let me know what the answer is.’

‘_Juicy!_’

Deceit tuned them out, returning to his plans for how Thomas was going to get the main role in the play he was auditioning for in a week’s time. Thomas only ever followed his plans about halfway, what with the others constantly rejecting parts of them on moral grounds, but Deceit still had to make them perfect, just in case the others decided to listen to him for once. He really hoped Roman and Logan had those lines memorised.

‘Hey, Dee?’ said Virgil, and Deceit tuned back in again. ‘Does Thomas have anything important on tomorrow?’ Deceit scanned his memory.

‘Not that I know of,’ he said.

‘So you don’t mind if Re and I keep Thomas up all night?’ asked Virgil. Deceit shook his head. Generally, it was inconvenient when Thomas didn’t get enough sleep, but bothering him with embarrassing memories and questionable thoughts was an important exercise to keep Virgil and Remus sharp, so Deceit didn’t try to stop them entirely. He just preferred them not to do it when Thomas might need his sleep. Remus made a shrieking noise that Deceit assumed was from excitement.

‘Great,’ said Virgil, giving Deceit a sharp-edged grin before Remus grabbed his arm and pulled him from the room.

Something was most definitely off, but Deceit couldn’t quite place it. It was… quieter than usual? Nobody had bothered him all day. Perhaps that was it. He wasn’t used to actually getting the alone time he constantly bemoaned the lack of.

‘Have you seen Remus?’ asked a voice behind him. Deceit jumped and barely managed to muffle a scream.

‘Sorry,’ said Virgil from where he’d appeared on the counter, sounding anything but. ‘I was just wondering. I haven’t seen him all day, and he’s usually all over the place. You think something’s wrong?’

Deceit glared at him, because he was really _not_ a fan of how Virgil had taken to practicing his jumpscares on him, but then considered the question more seriously. He hadn’t seen Remus today. That explained why it was so quiet, but raised several more questions.

‘I _definitely have_ seen him,’ he said. ‘I _won’t_ go check if he’s in his room.’

‘M’kay,’ said Virgil. ‘Tell me when you find him. His weird absence is making me nervous.’

‘You? _Nervous_?’

‘Shut up.’

Remus’ room was directly opposite Deceit’s, behind a glittery black door that was occasionally adorned with miscellaneous body parts. Deceit knocked twice. To his surprise, the door swung open with little resistance. Remus was sitting in the middle of the floor, legs twisted around each other in a way that implied an alarming lack of bones in them. He didn’t react at all to Deceit entering.

‘Hey, Re,’ said Deceit, sitting down next to him and tapping him on the shoulder. ‘What _aren’t_ you doing in here?’ Remus blinked a few times as if to clear his vision, seemingly startled by Deceit’s presence.

‘Brainstorming,’ he said. His voice was lacking its usual manic cheerfulness.

‘What for?’ asked Deceit.

‘An idea,’ said Remus. ‘A proper one. Like one of those ones Roman comes up with.’

‘What _don’t_ you need an idea like that for?’ asked Deceit. ‘Surely Thomas _doesn’t_ already have enough of those.’

‘Yeah,’ said Remus, ‘but this one would be _mine_.’

‘All of your ideas _aren’t_ yours, and all of your ideas _aren’t_ proper ideas already. What _isn’t_ wrong with those?’

‘Thomas doesn’t like them!’ snapped Remus. ‘Thomas just tries to make me be quiet, all the time, and usually I’m fine just shouting my thoughts at him but I miss him actually listening and turning them into things! I want to make something _good_!’

Deceit wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. It did bother him that Thomas didn’t really listen to his subconscious suggestions, but by now he’d gotten used to it and worked around it. He supposed it would hurt a manifestation of Creativity not to be able to properly _create_.

‘You do make good things,’ he said, dropping the lying. ‘They just aren’t Thomas’ definition of good.’

‘I know!’ shouted Remus. ‘That’s the problem! Why not?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Deceit, though he definitely had bits and pieces of the reason why. ‘Some of the ideas you suggest are just whims, and they don’t always work as a whole. Some of them are things that Thomas feels might disturb himself or other people if he put them out there. But some of them could definitely become something incredible. It might be partly how full-on they are. I advised you to shout your ideas at Thomas because that was the best way for you to make him hear you and that was what I thought you needed, but I may have misunderstood your needs. There are other ways to get them across that might make him more receptive to using them.’

‘Like what?’ asked Remus.

‘Well, Virgil and I both have different methods to make Thomas do what we want,’ said Deceit. ‘Virgil’s method is strongly emotion-based and doesn’t last very long, so that probably isn’t what you’re looking for.’ Virgil’s method just involved giving Thomas a strong jolt of fear and screaming whatever he wanted to achieve, which usually resulted in Thomas panicking and doing whatever he suggested on impulse. ‘My method is a lot quieter and involves subconscious suggestions. It’s less immediately effective and definitely doesn’t work all the time, but it’s more likely to be accepted by Thomas rather than identified as something he’d consider wrong or inconvenient. If you like, I could try to teach you how. The idea you want to convey might not come out quite as you intended, but I think Thomas might be more likely to use it.’

Remus tilted his head in consideration, and then kept on tilting it until his neck made an odd crunching sound.

‘That sounds cool!’ he said eventually. ‘D’you really think it’ll work?’

‘I have no idea,’ said Deceit. ‘We haven’t tried it yet.’ Remus didn’t seem bothered by this. He clapped his hands together excitedly.

‘I bet if I try hard enough I can convince Roman to work on one of my ideas and he won’t even realise! Do you think I could do that?’

‘Probably,’ said Deceit. Remus beamed, and then made him manifest all six of his arms so he could high-five all of them.

It occurred to Deceit a week or so later, watching Remus practically bounce off the walls because he’d managed to get an idea across and Virgil applaud half-sarcastically, that he really was quite fond of these two. He considered saying so, but decided against it. They’d never let him live it down.

  
  


‘Thomas doesn’t listen to us,’ said Virgil one evening from where he was lounging on the carpet, pulling off his headphones. Deceit raised an eyebrow at him.

‘What _didn’t_ bring this on, Virgil?’ Virgil shrugged.

‘I dunno. I just – he talks to the other three nowadays, properly face to face, but he still seems to have no idea we exist. I don’t feel like we’re really getting our point across.’

‘I _don’t_ keep us hidden from Thomas for everyone’s wellbeing,’ Deceit reminded him. ‘And we _don’t_ manage to be pretty convincing from behind the scenes.’ Thomas was much happier not knowing about the parts of himself that his morality considered dangerous, and Deceit was much happier not having to talk to him directly. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with the current system.

‘I guess,’ said Virgil uncomfortably. ‘But – doesn’t it bother you, him thinking we don’t exist?’ To be completely honest (for once), it didn’t bother Deceit at all, but it clearly did bother Virgil, and something had to be done about that.

‘_Don’t_ go talk to him, then,’ he said. Virgil made a startled choking noise.

‘You want me to just go up there? I thought you thought it was better for Thomas that we hide.’

‘Well, I _wouldn’t_ prefer you kept my name and Remus’ out of conversation,’ acknowledged Deceit, ‘but if you _wouldn’t_rather let Thomas know about your existence, then it’s _clearly_ my place to stop you. Though I _don’t_ have to wonder why it matters to you.’ It probably wouldn’t do Thomas much harm to be properly aware of his anxiety. It was his propensity for lying that he’d have more trouble with.

‘I just… don’t want to be invisible,’ said Virgil. Deceit nodded.

‘_Don’t_ do whatever seems best to you.’ He paused. ‘Virgil… _don’t_ be careful. They aren’t going to like you up there.’

‘I don’t mind,’ said Virgil, grinning. ‘They can think whatever they want of me. _I’ll_ know better.’ He had a point, and Deceit trusted him to look after himself.

After all, how badly could it really go wrong?

**Author's Note:**

> Patton reacts the way he does to the Dark Sides because Thomas is a child at the time and children have fairly black and white morality. He’s definitely more accepting as an adult but by that point the divide is pretty firmly established.
> 
> I was originally going to continue this through Virgil leaving and the Dark Sides’ appearances in the videos but I ended up not doing that; however I might still continue if I feel like it.


End file.
